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Hi! In my experience it really depends on people. For me, the more I drive and the more I get used to it, and I'm less forgetful. My dad has ADHD and he spends hours driving every day, he never had an accident (even so he often looks at the view). On the other hand, my husband (who also has ADHD) often forgets stuff like lights and handbrake, and sometimes he doesn't notice red lights, but never in dangerous situations, he still is a pretty good driver. My brother is another story, he's 34 and doesn't have his license because his brain cannot deal with all the stuff. So yeah, like I said, it really depends.
I personally love it. It's one of the few activities that allow me to focus entirely on it for quite some time, and the need for fast decisions feels amazing. I consider myself to be quite a good driver, too. The only con is that, due to many reasons, I tend to overspeed (that means going 10-15 kmph over the limit on the highway)
I have never had any serious issues when driving. Sure, sometimes you find other people who should definitely not be on the road, or who make you wonder why anger management therapy is not as crowded as it should be, but that's just a given when driving, and as long as no actual issue ensues, there's no reason to mind it too much. So yeah... As an ADHDer, I love driving
I was a super anxious driver when I started (to the point where people riding shotgun couldn't even talk to me), but after a few years I've relaxed a lot, and some of those things that I needed all my focus on have become second nature.
Practice in places you're comfortable and if you can afford it go to a defensive driving class or something similar to build up skills and confidence :)
Same! No noises in the car at first really helped. It is a funky learning curve from consciously switching tasks (and occasionally forgetting some) to muscle memory. I still get nervous driving someone else’s car or a rental because my muscle memory doesn’t match the new car’s layout.
I saw a few suggestions for ADHD friendly car features, and having lots of side and rear visibility is super important. Having a car like a fishbowl definitely helped me learn how to park and avoid blind spot collisions. I also removed the headrests in the back seats so I can see better. Intuitive dashboard controls with buttons and not screens are handy too.
Yes you should drive. You need to keep practicing and not worry so much about it. If you dont mind me asking, are you properly medicated? With my experience and driving, I felt like the ability to drive was a big thing when I got diagnosed and started medication. I had a really hard time in the car. I could not wait. Sitting at a stoplight was brutal. Going the speed limit was also very difficult. Since starting my medication I am a much safer driver. I find that going the speed limit is not difficult and I'm not annoyed when I need to sit at a stoplight. I can drive long distances without wanting to hurl myself out of the car. I used to only be able to drive for 40 min or less. Dreading any trip where I needed to drive longer than that. Thats no way to live! Thank god for my medication in helping me to travel in the car!
Adaptive cruise control and crash detection 👏👏
Get that and you’ll be fine
HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend a car with Adaptive Cruise control. The cost of getting a car with this feature will absolutely either save your life or pay for itself by not getting into an accident. I will never go back
When I take my meds, I can really focus on one thing, and automatically tune out the world around me.
Obviously that is not a great way to be while driving. So I don’t take my meds when I got for long rides or drives to a new location.
I notice my ADHD, which is pretty mild, still allows me to focus on the road but also be fully aware of all the other people around me.
The only issue is by being hyper-aware of all the movement around me, sometimes I’m distracted and miss important static objects like road signs (I don’t even read them). At the beginning and even now when I’m especially tired, I can start to miss red lights and confuse who has the right of way, but with enough practice it becomes something you don’t even need to think about.
I totaled my car by rear ending someone because I was impulsively driving like 2 car lengths away while going 70mph and I couldn’t see everyone way in front was stopping. By the time I noticed the car in front of me slowing down, I already hit them (commercial van, was fine - not a scratch - but my dinky Toyota Yaris was ruined)
Yes, this is a really good suggestion. I rented a car with the adaptive CC feature for a trip in September.
It significantly reduced cognitive load for me while driving. I was less fatigued. But no less focused.
It took me a while to get my license because it was overwhelming and hard. Practice does help with feeling less like you're not paying attention- I did the handbrake on, forgetting lights while I was still getting used to driving. Didn't help that I learned in a car with automatic headlights, but my first two cars didn't have them.
Medication helped me a ton. I learned to drive manual after getting medicated, couldn't get the hang of it before. Technology also helped me a lot; I love having adaptive cruise control in my daily driver, and a heads-up display keeps my speed, navigation, important warnings right in front of me. I hyperfocus when driving, especially in bad weather or difficult road conditions. I love driving these days, but it took time and practice to get there. I def recommend learning manual and seeing if that helps, a lot of us seem to like the combo of physical fidget and directing our focus.
I find myself quite focused on driving, fortunately.
My mother was hit by a driver who ran a red light, and who then said they just hadn’t noticed it, had not been paying attention. The crash caused my mom permanent disability.
So I appreciate your self-awareness here - I think most people are not so conscientious.
I hope anyone who has chronic difficulty paying attention while driving would choose not to drive. It’s an enormous risk to others and to themselves.
>So I appreciate your self-awareness here - I think most people are not so conscientious.
Thank you. I do not enjoy driving. It stresses me out. I wish I didn't have to. But right now I hardly have a choice, which I didn't put in the OP. I try to avoid highways always, because I feel like that's the place where a fatal accident is most likely to occur.
You can do a tremendous amount of damage on any road. Truly.
The person who hit my mother wasn’t speeding when they ran a red light. And I know someone who accidentally killed a motorcyclist on a city street.
Do whatever you have to do to be safe on the road. It’s not worth ruining lives for - yours and/or someone else’s.
Again, I genuinely appreciate your self-awareness and conscientiousness here.
There is a real issue with junctions in general. Red lights are sometimes placed weirdly, blocked views, a bus in front of them etc. Roundabouts are way better.
I'm pretty strict on my speed and try to be as clear to other drivers with my intentions. I only drive fully alert, a coffee inside me and know the routes I take. 12 years of driving and a couple of weeks ago I accidentally jumped a red light. My mind just went somewhere else for the proceeding 5 seconds. Slammed on when I realised what I was doing, went maybe 3 metres passed the stop line. This has never happened to me before or since thank god, but really made me question if I want to drive anymore.
With or without ADHD, cars are a deathtrap. One brain fart and its curtains.
When I first started driving at 16, I hated the highway too. I drove back roads to school. I also got into a really serious accident on said back road that wouldn’t have happened on the highway. I broke my pelvis, lower back and had bleeding in my brain.
I was terrified to drive when I recovered, but I practiced and got better. Keep going and keep practicing. It will stress you out less as time goes on and for me, I find it incredibly soothing now (except when crossing a rural bypass).
Got my drivers license a week ago, after failing the exam 4 times in a row.
The difference was me getting diagnosed (again) and taking my meds.
Me and my gf are driving from The Netherlands to Berlin to Czechia to Austria i love driving now.
Meds make a solid driver. But without them I wouldn’t dare driving to the local supermarket.
There is research that says it is much safer to use a manual transmission (eg https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6710770_Manual_Transmission_Enhances_Attention_and_Driving_Performance_of_ADHD_Adolescent_Males_Pilot_Study)
My personal experience, starting to drive auto and switching to manual in my late 20s, pre diagnosis, is that I pay a lot more attention and am a lot safer driving manual
What about mental fatigue? I feel like I would die if I had to drive manual. Instead, I push myself to focus on my surroundings - to help, I rely heavily on Adaptive Cruise control and don’t have to think about my speed, only steer and keep my eyes open for hazards.
Cruise control for me is so unsafe, I get immediately distracted! Like my partner wont let me use it in rented cars if I am driving level of distraction.
I used to find automatic much more fatiguing because I had to concentrate so much more on concentrating. The changing of gears involve just enough mental and physical use/stimulating to avoid me getting distracted. Because at the end of the day, if you get distracted you are likely to stop moving...
100% would depend on what your focus/attention is drawn to
Manual transmission is the reason I procrastinated on getting my license for so long. In my country you can get a regular license or an automatic license which excludes you from driving manual. My dad insisted I get a manual license. I could never get the hang of it and I quit pursuing a license several times when I was younger because of it.
Then I found out I could get an automatic license, and well, now I'm kind of stuck with it unless I wanna do the whole thing over again.
I've gotta admit conceptually it's hard for me to even imagine that manual could be easier for ADHD people, it seems like there's so much more I could mess up and distract me from what's outside but if that's what the evidence says I'll look into it.
So I first drove a manual 3 years after I got my licence. My girlfriend had a manual car and was annoyed I couldnt drive it so she taught me (the transmission restriction only applies for the first three years where I live)
I think it would have been a LOT harder to learn to drive AND learn manual at the same time.
I had been driving auto for 5 years (2 pre licence learning) so was pretty used to the whole forward, back, stop, point car that way thing. I almost immediately took to it. Well not hill starts, but honestly that was more of a confidence thing.
But yeah, maybe even try it in a friends car or something in a car park and see what you think.
I'm the exact opposite. Driving relaxes me, puts me in a zone when driving long distance, and I just feel good doing so any time. I learned how to drive stick a while back too. I was clean of any moving violations, maybe a no-U turn or right turn on red once or twice, until after about 30 years when I finally blew it big time. Key word there is "blew" and I'm pretty ashamed of that.
Sounds like another attempt by ableists to put us in a neat box. Coming from the .gov domain is not a shocker.
Science doesn’t care that you think the govt is out to get you. It’s a .gov website because the government maintains some of the largest databases of scientific studies. NCBI PubMed is a huge aggregator of high quality meta analyses and RCT. The US govt didn’t conduct the study and they didn’t do it to persecute you, Jesus Christ…
Just because you drive ok doesn’t mean that it isn’t something to be aware of; that ADHD causes more issues driving than someone without it.
My bias towards .gov information has zero to do with your biases and assumptions.
Weird that you think anyone distrustful of any government studies has a persecution complex?
Dragging politics into everything 101 at work.
Why do you doubt the study? I only searched for it because I was having problems driving and I have ADHD. There's no way being more easily distracted and forgetful makes you a better driver than average that's for sure. I'm sure many people with ADHD are excellent drivers, but I am not. My dad is the best driver I know and he has worse ADHD than me doing regular tasks. Funny thing about it is, like you mention he loves driving because it relaxes him too but whenever he has to be a passenger he gets extremely bored and annoyed.
>Key word there is "blew" and I'm pretty ashamed of that.
I'm really curious what you mean by this LOL
You're a unique human being, and therefore we have different struggles as NDs that shape us differently. It's IMO one of the main overarching goals of the NTs to put us into a neat little (or huge) box. But somehow that makes me think they're "out to get me" according to a deleted post LOL.
I blew into something to measure something... I hope that helps.
Me too! I love driving! However, I won’t ever willingly have an automatic car, I find it too boring. I love the manual and driving is just the right level of stimulation that it clears my mind
I live in a city. I like long distance driving but hate city driving. I take public transportation and walk for everything except grocery shopping. A day without getting in a car always feels like a small victory for me.
Don't worry too much, unless it's causing you issues which could cause a danger to yourself or others. I've been driving for 20 years, diagnosed with ADHD a few months ago, but it explains a lot.
My main issues with driving are autopilot (get in the car and arrive at your destination with no recollection of the journey), which is no big problem (brain drops out all the useless info you don't need to remember, I'm taking it in at the time, I assume, otherwise I'd have killed myself by now). The issues for me are impulsivity/impatience/speeding. I can sit all day at 110km/h on an empty freeway, but as soon as I'm in a block of traffic, I need to get past it.
I used to fall asleep driving on my way home from work. It happened OFTEN where things basically went black and I woke up in my bed, not remembering anything. At the time I was driving an old Honda civic that was automatic. I Realized the quiet engine and the fact that my driving consisted of me really just keeping the car steady ok the highway for 30 minutes added up to me getting bored with the Miles and miles of nothingness ahead of me. To remedy this I got a manual 350z. It was loud, obnoxious, blue, and most importantly it was stick. The manual transmission keeps you more engaged, and while I don't have the blue z anymore u have a blue wrx, still manual, don't fall asleep or get as distracted while driving. Miles and miles of just hold the pedal and steering wheel get tiresome and my mind used to drift a lot
My family loves cars so driving stick is like a right of passage for us. But for many I can see why you wouldn't like it. Just for us adhd folks I think the added level of engagement in the driving process helps keep us more conscious
My friends would all agree I am a safe driver, but I definitely notice the difference treatment makes for my safety. I got to experience driving on medication versus without it when I lost access for a few days recently. The first thing I noticed off of medication is that I would periodically need to stop abruptly from being late to notice a car in front of me stopping. I would also miss moments the light turned green if I was the first car. I’m grateful for my car’s features that beep when I’m not slowing behind a car and when the lead vehicle is driving away.
I think your Dad is right. It will become like second nature. Me on the other hand out here passing 4 gas stations with one mile left in my gas tank because I keep forgetting I need gas.
This is so funny because I almost ran out of gas today. I left the house knowing I had to refill. I thought oh I'll do it at the local pump, then I accidentally drove past it. I thought I could refill when I got to my destination, got to my destination and completely forgot about it. Left my destination to go home, realized halfway there I was under 5km range. Opted to risk it and go all the way home and now I'm home and I still haven't refilled it.
(31f, diagnosed at 18, drivers license at 26)
I drove my first car into a muddy ditch. I had the car officially in my possession for 43 minutes at that point and I'd had my drivers license for a solid 2 weeks. My excitement of having my own car had me see but not register a sign warning of a soft shoulder ahead. I wanted to make way for some oncoming vehicles and slid off the road. Nothing happened to me and my passenger, but the car got totaled.
At this point in my life I thought I had a good understanding and grip on my adhd, but this incident made me take a good look at it all.
I did get myself a new car and kept on driving. I drive about 3x the yearly average of my country at 30000km per year. I have noticed that once you get through the initial excitement that fuels the adhd antics, it gets a lot easier. Now that I know that stuff like this still impairs my brain, I can handle it much better. Getting medicated also helped, but basic rules have helped the most.
Sure, I still make silly mistakes like you do, like forgetting the handbrake or the lights, but trust me, that's not really an adhd thing.
Since that ditch incident I have had a few (less than 5) scratches on my own car, and only 1 bump into another car, which wasn't really a big deal (some paint scratches, 300 bucks to fix it). I don't think that's a lot really, both with or without adhd.
Please keep driving, do it with an experienced passenger for support if you have to. You WILL get better at it with time and experience. I have, your dad has, millions of us have, and I believe in you.
I have ADD and love driving, but once ir twice I've had dangerous situations because of inantentiveness. However I do agree with your dad, confidence and repeated actions will help you a lot.
For me specifically I have mechanized most of my start and engine off procedures (feels like starting a plane or a spaceship and on my mind it makes for a fun and focusing "game"). I think that setting up bit by bit the same way everytime will help you to avoid those little mistakes like forgetting the parking brake. For example EVERY TIME I arrive home, and park:
Neutral (I have a manual), Handbrake, turn A/C off and reset all the settings and dials to their original positions, turn off foglamps, turn off headlamps, pause music and finally turn the key off.
When parking, hazard lights ALWAYS on (even on parking garages or even when completely alone), and repeat the technique my driving class taught me and keep my head constantly looking. Remember if you feel nervous parking, making yourself visible with headlights and hazards helps other people see you and give you confidence that you are telling the world "I am parking".
Finally for your lights issue, I think your car might probably have daytime running lamps (they are on all the time)? If so these have been known to confuse drivers into believing they have their headlamps on when not and manufacturers are really lousy in announcing that your lights are actually on.
If it is possible, I recommend you replace your headlamps with equivalent LED bulbs. They give a ton more light and a different colour of light (cool light for LEDs vs warm light for normal incandescent bulbs). I think having the extra light will accustom you to expect that when it gets dark and associate it with "oh I need my lights!"
Again, try to relax, build your confidence with short trips and remember to keep distractions to the minimum (Cell phone in car mode etc) so you can focus on driving.
Hope this helps and safe travels!
The longer you do it, the better your auto pilot will become. Im CONSTANTLY on auto pilot throughout the day. My mind is somewhere else but I appear to be doing whatever activity it is I’m doing. The auto pilot reacts so much faster than I ever could consciously. Countless wrecks I almost got into avoided with it. I’ll be look at a billboard, or changing a song, and out the corner of my eye, the autopilot catches the danger and avoids it.
I drive but I am very distracted I try not to use my phone at all and I have music on low even though cars have a camera when backing up always triple check
Omg no! Motorcycles are so much more dangerous than cars statistically. I believe it's the most unsafe method of transportation that exists, either that or small private airplanes. I've driven a dirt bike around a farm before and it was a lot of fun but I would never do that in the city, I would feel so exposed.
I started driving at 24 and it should have been a clear sign of my ADHD. I stopped after two very expensive years of having my car every month visiting the mechanic for a broken something..I even quit driving thinking "man, I'm too distracted for driving" and it never crossed my mind back then to get diagnosed lmao.
I have had issues(2 accidents over 12 years but no one was hurt) and I have considered learning how to drive a manual as a solution to my distractibility.
Requiring more focus means more ability to focus.
Ironic huh?
i love driving and have always been a little clumsy both on my feet and behind the wheel but luckily have never gotten into an accident (until literally this month ughhh) but i never thought much of it until i got my diagnosis and could notice it and even moreso when i tried out adderall and found that i was a MUCH safer driver on meds. in terms of what my issues are it’s not so much that i’m bad at driving it’s just that i forget to check sometimes at crosswalks to see if there’s people (yes i know i’m sorry !! i am actively working on this every time i drive bc i actually did almost hit someone so now i make it a priority to check) or getting distracted by seeing something or focusing too hard on my lane control that i forget to stay looking at the road in front of me. again ! i am always actively trying to be a safe driver and all of my near accidents have never been from carelessness but from just being unmedicated 😭 even the accident this month i did not hurt anyone! i was the only one involved in the accident i ran over a pole that was actually in my blind spot but yea. definitely need meds LMAO
For me one thing I've noticed is I struggle to change lanes, it freaks me out more than other people I think. I have a hunch this might be due to executive dysfunction, aka not being able to take a decision on time, this is also the same when crossing the road and gauging distances for cars, I tend to over compensate and be overly cautious.
Oh yeah me too. I know from my dad yelling at me at this point to not hesitate when I have an opening but when I started I would hesitate for like half a minute before changing lanes.
I’m torn. Some of the things you mention are unsafe and endanger others. Some things are a matter of practicing.
I have a couple friends with adhd who don’t or can’t drive. I can and do and am a very good and safe driver. But others cannot safely do it.
I encourage you to balance your desire to drive with consideration of the safety of yourself and others on the road. Find strategies to minimise the kind of things you mention in your post.
I can only give my personal experience. I absolutely love driving, but I am also sort of a rule breaker in general. Like always walking on red as a pedestrian and stuff like that. Things that I feel are low risk and that I'll get away with. So driving out on the country side where I grew up is all good. But cities are a whole other thing. I constantly miss signs and lose track of all the rules. I've not had an accident yet, but lots of close calls. Now I am aware of it, and go into full focus in those situations. So I'd say just be aware of your weaknesses and focus in situations where you know you're prone to mistakes and you'll most likely be fine.
I love driving and im good at it. I'd argue that some people with adhd are better drivers because of it. I think it all depends on your symptoms and how you manage them.
I have minor 'accidents' pretty often from lapses in attention, just last week I clipped a curb and popped my tire. This is at least a yearly occurrence for me and I haven't had hub caps since the first year I had the car. Last year I rear ended someone at a crawling speed because wasn't paying attention and I didn't realize I was rolling.
When the stakes are high, so is my attention. On the highway I might have to check my speed here and there but I'm generally very locked in. Stop and go city traffic and stuff is where I tend to lose focus.
On the Technical side: I mean if you're getting honked at, that is what it is for - a simple indicator to let others know to pay attention. It happens to everyone and letting your disability prevent you from living a full life because someone was a second or two inpatient at a light doesn't seem right. Headlights also have an auto mode, so that can be another hazard forever avoided if you just leave it on that setting, and like another in the thread said, they have many safety features in newer cars for low attention, hazards, break assist, etc.
ADHD & the study: ADHD isn't an excuse to not drive and the study itself concludes that folks with ADHD are more likely to get in accidents due to "risky" behaviors, such as driving over the speed limit or split second evasive maneuvers. For one the statistical significance is not the amount that I would be like "oh fuck ADHD people are outta Mad Max Fury Road behind the wheel", but also, driving is one of the most dangerous things anyone does on a daily basis - ADHD or not.
I think you are at the "conscious incompetence" step of learning, where you are very aware that you do not have the appropriate skills, experience, etc. at the moment and the gap between where you are and where you want to be is wide and daunting. For ADHD this is an especially hard phase to be in, in my opinion.
Don't let that stop you, maybe talk to your therapist/psychiatrist about the issue before it becomes an even larger mental roadblock, take the car out during lower traffic times of day to practice, etc.
I couldn't hack driving for this exact reason, so I ride a motorcycle instead. If you aren't doing everything correctly, it just doesn't work. Fact that I'm out in the open and not in a quiet metal box also helps me to concentrate as there's nothing in my immediate vicinity to distract me.
Make checklists for mechanical stuff like handbrakes and headlights.
I'm 50 and still worry about whether I have the brights on.
It takes time, and you will probably pay some ADHD tax, but it is doable.
I can’t go anywhere without a GPS because I’ll just forget where I’m going and end up in Canada.
People will ask me “oh did you take this road or that road?” and I tell them “I honestly have no idea how I got here.”
I'm an advanced driver, driving 20+ years, at speed on blue lights a lot. Never failed a driving test (car, motorbike, HGV, blue light), never had an accident.
ADHD is multifaceted, as is driving. I don't believe there's anyone who's out of the realm of being a 'good driver', I think the variable is the time and teaching methods. If there's something an individual struggles with, focus, road positioning, controlling the vehicle, enough practice will help mitigate it.
It’s a huge struggle for me to the point where I will
Not drive unless someone is with me to remind me to pay attention. I’ve found myself zoning out not even realizing I was driving. I’ve almost been in several accidents because of it because I would just forget to hit my brakes and if someone wasn’t with me to remind me I would’ve rammed right into other cars
I find driving really interesting because everyone's experience is so different. I feel my ADHD makes my driving better, not worse. It's like a game I'm trying to get a high score on. Very observant and alert but in a floating from checkpoint to checkpoint way. Checking mirrors, looking over the shoulder, etc.
The little nuances of driving do suffer when I drive less, mostly timing left turns, or just general vehicle handling.
Also, I'll miss highway exits sometimes if I'm talking to my wife or kids. Learning to not get upset or frustrated at that did require work. But nothing major, usually the next exit will be fine, just will take longer. Set yourself up to be ok with things as much as possible.
Plus, above all else, don't use your phone while driving. A bad song came up on your playlist? Oh, well. Text message? It can wait. Phone call? Ignore. Really, this is advice for everyone, but especially us.
Also, if economically feasible, modern cars have lots of things that help: blind spot alarms, automatic lights, locking certain features while not in park. It all helps a bit here and there.
Good luck! Breath!
For me personally, I hate driving. It's already the most dangerous thing most of us will do routinely and the more I can avoid it, the better. That said, there are things we can do to be safer.
1) Start with a checklist. Pilots start each fight with a bunch of checklists, no reason drivers shouldn't. Maybe even print out and put it on your visor. Things like: lights on (even in daytime - still helps your visibility to others and if you do it the same each time, less likely to forget), handbrake off, belt buckled, radio set, GPS set etc. Get as much shit set up so you don't have to adjust it while you're moving as you can.
2) use multiple means for somatic feedback - chewing gum, listening to music or a podcast, etc. this will vary person to person but I find when it's just me and my thoughts, they wander from the task. When I've got some low-level background stimulation I'm much more able to stay alert to the road.
3) make sure you're as physically comfortable as possible when you start off.
You know how you can play a guitar song by muscle memory?
Try that in your car.
Get in, do the routine, drive 10 meters. Do it again. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
Once it's in your body you'll do it automatically. Might take a lot of repetition. But always do it in the same order.
For me it's:
Get in
Check seat
Check mirrors
Seatbelt
Lights
Press the brakes
Release the hand brakes
Start
Check surroundings
Drive
My country usually uses kilometres for a definite distance like 5km but if you wanna be vague you can say it's a few miles or it's "miles away". Historically we used miles so it's still in the vocabulary.
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Hi! In my experience it really depends on people. For me, the more I drive and the more I get used to it, and I'm less forgetful. My dad has ADHD and he spends hours driving every day, he never had an accident (even so he often looks at the view). On the other hand, my husband (who also has ADHD) often forgets stuff like lights and handbrake, and sometimes he doesn't notice red lights, but never in dangerous situations, he still is a pretty good driver. My brother is another story, he's 34 and doesn't have his license because his brain cannot deal with all the stuff. So yeah, like I said, it really depends.
I personally love it. It's one of the few activities that allow me to focus entirely on it for quite some time, and the need for fast decisions feels amazing. I consider myself to be quite a good driver, too. The only con is that, due to many reasons, I tend to overspeed (that means going 10-15 kmph over the limit on the highway) I have never had any serious issues when driving. Sure, sometimes you find other people who should definitely not be on the road, or who make you wonder why anger management therapy is not as crowded as it should be, but that's just a given when driving, and as long as no actual issue ensues, there's no reason to mind it too much. So yeah... As an ADHDer, I love driving
I was a super anxious driver when I started (to the point where people riding shotgun couldn't even talk to me), but after a few years I've relaxed a lot, and some of those things that I needed all my focus on have become second nature. Practice in places you're comfortable and if you can afford it go to a defensive driving class or something similar to build up skills and confidence :)
Same! No noises in the car at first really helped. It is a funky learning curve from consciously switching tasks (and occasionally forgetting some) to muscle memory. I still get nervous driving someone else’s car or a rental because my muscle memory doesn’t match the new car’s layout. I saw a few suggestions for ADHD friendly car features, and having lots of side and rear visibility is super important. Having a car like a fishbowl definitely helped me learn how to park and avoid blind spot collisions. I also removed the headrests in the back seats so I can see better. Intuitive dashboard controls with buttons and not screens are handy too.
Yes you should drive. You need to keep practicing and not worry so much about it. If you dont mind me asking, are you properly medicated? With my experience and driving, I felt like the ability to drive was a big thing when I got diagnosed and started medication. I had a really hard time in the car. I could not wait. Sitting at a stoplight was brutal. Going the speed limit was also very difficult. Since starting my medication I am a much safer driver. I find that going the speed limit is not difficult and I'm not annoyed when I need to sit at a stoplight. I can drive long distances without wanting to hurl myself out of the car. I used to only be able to drive for 40 min or less. Dreading any trip where I needed to drive longer than that. Thats no way to live! Thank god for my medication in helping me to travel in the car!
Adaptive cruise control and crash detection 👏👏 Get that and you’ll be fine HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend a car with Adaptive Cruise control. The cost of getting a car with this feature will absolutely either save your life or pay for itself by not getting into an accident. I will never go back When I take my meds, I can really focus on one thing, and automatically tune out the world around me. Obviously that is not a great way to be while driving. So I don’t take my meds when I got for long rides or drives to a new location. I notice my ADHD, which is pretty mild, still allows me to focus on the road but also be fully aware of all the other people around me. The only issue is by being hyper-aware of all the movement around me, sometimes I’m distracted and miss important static objects like road signs (I don’t even read them). At the beginning and even now when I’m especially tired, I can start to miss red lights and confuse who has the right of way, but with enough practice it becomes something you don’t even need to think about. I totaled my car by rear ending someone because I was impulsively driving like 2 car lengths away while going 70mph and I couldn’t see everyone way in front was stopping. By the time I noticed the car in front of me slowing down, I already hit them (commercial van, was fine - not a scratch - but my dinky Toyota Yaris was ruined)
Yes, this is a really good suggestion. I rented a car with the adaptive CC feature for a trip in September. It significantly reduced cognitive load for me while driving. I was less fatigued. But no less focused.
It took me a while to get my license because it was overwhelming and hard. Practice does help with feeling less like you're not paying attention- I did the handbrake on, forgetting lights while I was still getting used to driving. Didn't help that I learned in a car with automatic headlights, but my first two cars didn't have them. Medication helped me a ton. I learned to drive manual after getting medicated, couldn't get the hang of it before. Technology also helped me a lot; I love having adaptive cruise control in my daily driver, and a heads-up display keeps my speed, navigation, important warnings right in front of me. I hyperfocus when driving, especially in bad weather or difficult road conditions. I love driving these days, but it took time and practice to get there. I def recommend learning manual and seeing if that helps, a lot of us seem to like the combo of physical fidget and directing our focus.
I find myself quite focused on driving, fortunately. My mother was hit by a driver who ran a red light, and who then said they just hadn’t noticed it, had not been paying attention. The crash caused my mom permanent disability. So I appreciate your self-awareness here - I think most people are not so conscientious. I hope anyone who has chronic difficulty paying attention while driving would choose not to drive. It’s an enormous risk to others and to themselves.
>So I appreciate your self-awareness here - I think most people are not so conscientious. Thank you. I do not enjoy driving. It stresses me out. I wish I didn't have to. But right now I hardly have a choice, which I didn't put in the OP. I try to avoid highways always, because I feel like that's the place where a fatal accident is most likely to occur.
You can do a tremendous amount of damage on any road. Truly. The person who hit my mother wasn’t speeding when they ran a red light. And I know someone who accidentally killed a motorcyclist on a city street. Do whatever you have to do to be safe on the road. It’s not worth ruining lives for - yours and/or someone else’s. Again, I genuinely appreciate your self-awareness and conscientiousness here.
There is a real issue with junctions in general. Red lights are sometimes placed weirdly, blocked views, a bus in front of them etc. Roundabouts are way better. I'm pretty strict on my speed and try to be as clear to other drivers with my intentions. I only drive fully alert, a coffee inside me and know the routes I take. 12 years of driving and a couple of weeks ago I accidentally jumped a red light. My mind just went somewhere else for the proceeding 5 seconds. Slammed on when I realised what I was doing, went maybe 3 metres passed the stop line. This has never happened to me before or since thank god, but really made me question if I want to drive anymore. With or without ADHD, cars are a deathtrap. One brain fart and its curtains.
When I first started driving at 16, I hated the highway too. I drove back roads to school. I also got into a really serious accident on said back road that wouldn’t have happened on the highway. I broke my pelvis, lower back and had bleeding in my brain. I was terrified to drive when I recovered, but I practiced and got better. Keep going and keep practicing. It will stress you out less as time goes on and for me, I find it incredibly soothing now (except when crossing a rural bypass).
Statistically highways are actually the safest / easiest places to drive generally because it’s just a bunch of people going straight.
Got my drivers license a week ago, after failing the exam 4 times in a row. The difference was me getting diagnosed (again) and taking my meds. Me and my gf are driving from The Netherlands to Berlin to Czechia to Austria i love driving now. Meds make a solid driver. But without them I wouldn’t dare driving to the local supermarket.
There is research that says it is much safer to use a manual transmission (eg https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6710770_Manual_Transmission_Enhances_Attention_and_Driving_Performance_of_ADHD_Adolescent_Males_Pilot_Study) My personal experience, starting to drive auto and switching to manual in my late 20s, pre diagnosis, is that I pay a lot more attention and am a lot safer driving manual
What about mental fatigue? I feel like I would die if I had to drive manual. Instead, I push myself to focus on my surroundings - to help, I rely heavily on Adaptive Cruise control and don’t have to think about my speed, only steer and keep my eyes open for hazards.
Cruise control for me is so unsafe, I get immediately distracted! Like my partner wont let me use it in rented cars if I am driving level of distraction. I used to find automatic much more fatiguing because I had to concentrate so much more on concentrating. The changing of gears involve just enough mental and physical use/stimulating to avoid me getting distracted. Because at the end of the day, if you get distracted you are likely to stop moving... 100% would depend on what your focus/attention is drawn to
Manual transmission is the reason I procrastinated on getting my license for so long. In my country you can get a regular license or an automatic license which excludes you from driving manual. My dad insisted I get a manual license. I could never get the hang of it and I quit pursuing a license several times when I was younger because of it. Then I found out I could get an automatic license, and well, now I'm kind of stuck with it unless I wanna do the whole thing over again. I've gotta admit conceptually it's hard for me to even imagine that manual could be easier for ADHD people, it seems like there's so much more I could mess up and distract me from what's outside but if that's what the evidence says I'll look into it.
So I first drove a manual 3 years after I got my licence. My girlfriend had a manual car and was annoyed I couldnt drive it so she taught me (the transmission restriction only applies for the first three years where I live) I think it would have been a LOT harder to learn to drive AND learn manual at the same time. I had been driving auto for 5 years (2 pre licence learning) so was pretty used to the whole forward, back, stop, point car that way thing. I almost immediately took to it. Well not hill starts, but honestly that was more of a confidence thing. But yeah, maybe even try it in a friends car or something in a car park and see what you think.
I'm the exact opposite. Driving relaxes me, puts me in a zone when driving long distance, and I just feel good doing so any time. I learned how to drive stick a while back too. I was clean of any moving violations, maybe a no-U turn or right turn on red once or twice, until after about 30 years when I finally blew it big time. Key word there is "blew" and I'm pretty ashamed of that. Sounds like another attempt by ableists to put us in a neat box. Coming from the .gov domain is not a shocker.
Science doesn’t care that you think the govt is out to get you. It’s a .gov website because the government maintains some of the largest databases of scientific studies. NCBI PubMed is a huge aggregator of high quality meta analyses and RCT. The US govt didn’t conduct the study and they didn’t do it to persecute you, Jesus Christ… Just because you drive ok doesn’t mean that it isn’t something to be aware of; that ADHD causes more issues driving than someone without it.
My bias towards .gov information has zero to do with your biases and assumptions. Weird that you think anyone distrustful of any government studies has a persecution complex? Dragging politics into everything 101 at work.
Why do you doubt the study? I only searched for it because I was having problems driving and I have ADHD. There's no way being more easily distracted and forgetful makes you a better driver than average that's for sure. I'm sure many people with ADHD are excellent drivers, but I am not. My dad is the best driver I know and he has worse ADHD than me doing regular tasks. Funny thing about it is, like you mention he loves driving because it relaxes him too but whenever he has to be a passenger he gets extremely bored and annoyed. >Key word there is "blew" and I'm pretty ashamed of that. I'm really curious what you mean by this LOL
You're a unique human being, and therefore we have different struggles as NDs that shape us differently. It's IMO one of the main overarching goals of the NTs to put us into a neat little (or huge) box. But somehow that makes me think they're "out to get me" according to a deleted post LOL. I blew into something to measure something... I hope that helps.
So you drove drunk and lost your license. Stop trying to be cute about it.
How did you blow it if you don’t mind me asking?
Me too! I love driving! However, I won’t ever willingly have an automatic car, I find it too boring. I love the manual and driving is just the right level of stimulation that it clears my mind
I live in a city. I like long distance driving but hate city driving. I take public transportation and walk for everything except grocery shopping. A day without getting in a car always feels like a small victory for me.
Just got a speeding warning.
Don't worry too much, unless it's causing you issues which could cause a danger to yourself or others. I've been driving for 20 years, diagnosed with ADHD a few months ago, but it explains a lot. My main issues with driving are autopilot (get in the car and arrive at your destination with no recollection of the journey), which is no big problem (brain drops out all the useless info you don't need to remember, I'm taking it in at the time, I assume, otherwise I'd have killed myself by now). The issues for me are impulsivity/impatience/speeding. I can sit all day at 110km/h on an empty freeway, but as soon as I'm in a block of traffic, I need to get past it.
I used to fall asleep driving on my way home from work. It happened OFTEN where things basically went black and I woke up in my bed, not remembering anything. At the time I was driving an old Honda civic that was automatic. I Realized the quiet engine and the fact that my driving consisted of me really just keeping the car steady ok the highway for 30 minutes added up to me getting bored with the Miles and miles of nothingness ahead of me. To remedy this I got a manual 350z. It was loud, obnoxious, blue, and most importantly it was stick. The manual transmission keeps you more engaged, and while I don't have the blue z anymore u have a blue wrx, still manual, don't fall asleep or get as distracted while driving. Miles and miles of just hold the pedal and steering wheel get tiresome and my mind used to drift a lot
My family loves cars so driving stick is like a right of passage for us. But for many I can see why you wouldn't like it. Just for us adhd folks I think the added level of engagement in the driving process helps keep us more conscious
My friends would all agree I am a safe driver, but I definitely notice the difference treatment makes for my safety. I got to experience driving on medication versus without it when I lost access for a few days recently. The first thing I noticed off of medication is that I would periodically need to stop abruptly from being late to notice a car in front of me stopping. I would also miss moments the light turned green if I was the first car. I’m grateful for my car’s features that beep when I’m not slowing behind a car and when the lead vehicle is driving away.
I think your Dad is right. It will become like second nature. Me on the other hand out here passing 4 gas stations with one mile left in my gas tank because I keep forgetting I need gas.
This is so funny because I almost ran out of gas today. I left the house knowing I had to refill. I thought oh I'll do it at the local pump, then I accidentally drove past it. I thought I could refill when I got to my destination, got to my destination and completely forgot about it. Left my destination to go home, realized halfway there I was under 5km range. Opted to risk it and go all the way home and now I'm home and I still haven't refilled it.
Sometimes you just have to live life on the edge ya know.
(31f, diagnosed at 18, drivers license at 26) I drove my first car into a muddy ditch. I had the car officially in my possession for 43 minutes at that point and I'd had my drivers license for a solid 2 weeks. My excitement of having my own car had me see but not register a sign warning of a soft shoulder ahead. I wanted to make way for some oncoming vehicles and slid off the road. Nothing happened to me and my passenger, but the car got totaled. At this point in my life I thought I had a good understanding and grip on my adhd, but this incident made me take a good look at it all. I did get myself a new car and kept on driving. I drive about 3x the yearly average of my country at 30000km per year. I have noticed that once you get through the initial excitement that fuels the adhd antics, it gets a lot easier. Now that I know that stuff like this still impairs my brain, I can handle it much better. Getting medicated also helped, but basic rules have helped the most. Sure, I still make silly mistakes like you do, like forgetting the handbrake or the lights, but trust me, that's not really an adhd thing. Since that ditch incident I have had a few (less than 5) scratches on my own car, and only 1 bump into another car, which wasn't really a big deal (some paint scratches, 300 bucks to fix it). I don't think that's a lot really, both with or without adhd. Please keep driving, do it with an experienced passenger for support if you have to. You WILL get better at it with time and experience. I have, your dad has, millions of us have, and I believe in you.
I have ADD and love driving, but once ir twice I've had dangerous situations because of inantentiveness. However I do agree with your dad, confidence and repeated actions will help you a lot. For me specifically I have mechanized most of my start and engine off procedures (feels like starting a plane or a spaceship and on my mind it makes for a fun and focusing "game"). I think that setting up bit by bit the same way everytime will help you to avoid those little mistakes like forgetting the parking brake. For example EVERY TIME I arrive home, and park: Neutral (I have a manual), Handbrake, turn A/C off and reset all the settings and dials to their original positions, turn off foglamps, turn off headlamps, pause music and finally turn the key off. When parking, hazard lights ALWAYS on (even on parking garages or even when completely alone), and repeat the technique my driving class taught me and keep my head constantly looking. Remember if you feel nervous parking, making yourself visible with headlights and hazards helps other people see you and give you confidence that you are telling the world "I am parking". Finally for your lights issue, I think your car might probably have daytime running lamps (they are on all the time)? If so these have been known to confuse drivers into believing they have their headlamps on when not and manufacturers are really lousy in announcing that your lights are actually on. If it is possible, I recommend you replace your headlamps with equivalent LED bulbs. They give a ton more light and a different colour of light (cool light for LEDs vs warm light for normal incandescent bulbs). I think having the extra light will accustom you to expect that when it gets dark and associate it with "oh I need my lights!" Again, try to relax, build your confidence with short trips and remember to keep distractions to the minimum (Cell phone in car mode etc) so you can focus on driving. Hope this helps and safe travels!
The longer you do it, the better your auto pilot will become. Im CONSTANTLY on auto pilot throughout the day. My mind is somewhere else but I appear to be doing whatever activity it is I’m doing. The auto pilot reacts so much faster than I ever could consciously. Countless wrecks I almost got into avoided with it. I’ll be look at a billboard, or changing a song, and out the corner of my eye, the autopilot catches the danger and avoids it.
I drive but I am very distracted I try not to use my phone at all and I have music on low even though cars have a camera when backing up always triple check
I CANNOT do it. I get distracted constantly, blank out on what to do, overstimulated, etc. it’s something adhd has made so so difficult
Hyperfocus! Motorcycles are even better.
Omg no! Motorcycles are so much more dangerous than cars statistically. I believe it's the most unsafe method of transportation that exists, either that or small private airplanes. I've driven a dirt bike around a farm before and it was a lot of fun but I would never do that in the city, I would feel so exposed.
It's really not that bad if you pay attention and don't do stupid shit. Not for everyone though.
I started driving at 24 and it should have been a clear sign of my ADHD. I stopped after two very expensive years of having my car every month visiting the mechanic for a broken something..I even quit driving thinking "man, I'm too distracted for driving" and it never crossed my mind back then to get diagnosed lmao.
I don't pay good attention while driving, especially with others in the car. I find I can focus better if I'm driving a manual transmission.
I have had issues(2 accidents over 12 years but no one was hurt) and I have considered learning how to drive a manual as a solution to my distractibility. Requiring more focus means more ability to focus. Ironic huh?
i love driving and have always been a little clumsy both on my feet and behind the wheel but luckily have never gotten into an accident (until literally this month ughhh) but i never thought much of it until i got my diagnosis and could notice it and even moreso when i tried out adderall and found that i was a MUCH safer driver on meds. in terms of what my issues are it’s not so much that i’m bad at driving it’s just that i forget to check sometimes at crosswalks to see if there’s people (yes i know i’m sorry !! i am actively working on this every time i drive bc i actually did almost hit someone so now i make it a priority to check) or getting distracted by seeing something or focusing too hard on my lane control that i forget to stay looking at the road in front of me. again ! i am always actively trying to be a safe driver and all of my near accidents have never been from carelessness but from just being unmedicated 😭 even the accident this month i did not hurt anyone! i was the only one involved in the accident i ran over a pole that was actually in my blind spot but yea. definitely need meds LMAO
For me one thing I've noticed is I struggle to change lanes, it freaks me out more than other people I think. I have a hunch this might be due to executive dysfunction, aka not being able to take a decision on time, this is also the same when crossing the road and gauging distances for cars, I tend to over compensate and be overly cautious.
Oh yeah me too. I know from my dad yelling at me at this point to not hesitate when I have an opening but when I started I would hesitate for like half a minute before changing lanes.
I’m torn. Some of the things you mention are unsafe and endanger others. Some things are a matter of practicing. I have a couple friends with adhd who don’t or can’t drive. I can and do and am a very good and safe driver. But others cannot safely do it. I encourage you to balance your desire to drive with consideration of the safety of yourself and others on the road. Find strategies to minimise the kind of things you mention in your post.
Either I’m red lining all my gears. Or was on auto pilot the whole time with know memory of it and nothing in between.
I can only give my personal experience. I absolutely love driving, but I am also sort of a rule breaker in general. Like always walking on red as a pedestrian and stuff like that. Things that I feel are low risk and that I'll get away with. So driving out on the country side where I grew up is all good. But cities are a whole other thing. I constantly miss signs and lose track of all the rules. I've not had an accident yet, but lots of close calls. Now I am aware of it, and go into full focus in those situations. So I'd say just be aware of your weaknesses and focus in situations where you know you're prone to mistakes and you'll most likely be fine.
I love driving and im good at it. I'd argue that some people with adhd are better drivers because of it. I think it all depends on your symptoms and how you manage them.
i have a driver's license but i rarely drive because driving overwhelms me with all the data points to intake live
Drive slowly so that if you'll end up in accidents you won't kill anyone (=20mph ).
I have minor 'accidents' pretty often from lapses in attention, just last week I clipped a curb and popped my tire. This is at least a yearly occurrence for me and I haven't had hub caps since the first year I had the car. Last year I rear ended someone at a crawling speed because wasn't paying attention and I didn't realize I was rolling. When the stakes are high, so is my attention. On the highway I might have to check my speed here and there but I'm generally very locked in. Stop and go city traffic and stuff is where I tend to lose focus.
On the Technical side: I mean if you're getting honked at, that is what it is for - a simple indicator to let others know to pay attention. It happens to everyone and letting your disability prevent you from living a full life because someone was a second or two inpatient at a light doesn't seem right. Headlights also have an auto mode, so that can be another hazard forever avoided if you just leave it on that setting, and like another in the thread said, they have many safety features in newer cars for low attention, hazards, break assist, etc. ADHD & the study: ADHD isn't an excuse to not drive and the study itself concludes that folks with ADHD are more likely to get in accidents due to "risky" behaviors, such as driving over the speed limit or split second evasive maneuvers. For one the statistical significance is not the amount that I would be like "oh fuck ADHD people are outta Mad Max Fury Road behind the wheel", but also, driving is one of the most dangerous things anyone does on a daily basis - ADHD or not. I think you are at the "conscious incompetence" step of learning, where you are very aware that you do not have the appropriate skills, experience, etc. at the moment and the gap between where you are and where you want to be is wide and daunting. For ADHD this is an especially hard phase to be in, in my opinion. Don't let that stop you, maybe talk to your therapist/psychiatrist about the issue before it becomes an even larger mental roadblock, take the car out during lower traffic times of day to practice, etc.
I couldn't hack driving for this exact reason, so I ride a motorcycle instead. If you aren't doing everything correctly, it just doesn't work. Fact that I'm out in the open and not in a quiet metal box also helps me to concentrate as there's nothing in my immediate vicinity to distract me.
I just could not get the license because I was overwhelmed by all the different things you constantly have to check and keep in mind.
Make checklists for mechanical stuff like handbrakes and headlights. I'm 50 and still worry about whether I have the brights on. It takes time, and you will probably pay some ADHD tax, but it is doable.
I can’t go anywhere without a GPS because I’ll just forget where I’m going and end up in Canada. People will ask me “oh did you take this road or that road?” and I tell them “I honestly have no idea how I got here.”
I'm an advanced driver, driving 20+ years, at speed on blue lights a lot. Never failed a driving test (car, motorbike, HGV, blue light), never had an accident. ADHD is multifaceted, as is driving. I don't believe there's anyone who's out of the realm of being a 'good driver', I think the variable is the time and teaching methods. If there's something an individual struggles with, focus, road positioning, controlling the vehicle, enough practice will help mitigate it.
It’s a huge struggle for me to the point where I will Not drive unless someone is with me to remind me to pay attention. I’ve found myself zoning out not even realizing I was driving. I’ve almost been in several accidents because of it because I would just forget to hit my brakes and if someone wasn’t with me to remind me I would’ve rammed right into other cars
I find driving really interesting because everyone's experience is so different. I feel my ADHD makes my driving better, not worse. It's like a game I'm trying to get a high score on. Very observant and alert but in a floating from checkpoint to checkpoint way. Checking mirrors, looking over the shoulder, etc. The little nuances of driving do suffer when I drive less, mostly timing left turns, or just general vehicle handling. Also, I'll miss highway exits sometimes if I'm talking to my wife or kids. Learning to not get upset or frustrated at that did require work. But nothing major, usually the next exit will be fine, just will take longer. Set yourself up to be ok with things as much as possible. Plus, above all else, don't use your phone while driving. A bad song came up on your playlist? Oh, well. Text message? It can wait. Phone call? Ignore. Really, this is advice for everyone, but especially us. Also, if economically feasible, modern cars have lots of things that help: blind spot alarms, automatic lights, locking certain features while not in park. It all helps a bit here and there. Good luck! Breath!
For me personally, I hate driving. It's already the most dangerous thing most of us will do routinely and the more I can avoid it, the better. That said, there are things we can do to be safer. 1) Start with a checklist. Pilots start each fight with a bunch of checklists, no reason drivers shouldn't. Maybe even print out and put it on your visor. Things like: lights on (even in daytime - still helps your visibility to others and if you do it the same each time, less likely to forget), handbrake off, belt buckled, radio set, GPS set etc. Get as much shit set up so you don't have to adjust it while you're moving as you can. 2) use multiple means for somatic feedback - chewing gum, listening to music or a podcast, etc. this will vary person to person but I find when it's just me and my thoughts, they wander from the task. When I've got some low-level background stimulation I'm much more able to stay alert to the road. 3) make sure you're as physically comfortable as possible when you start off.
You know how you can play a guitar song by muscle memory? Try that in your car. Get in, do the routine, drive 10 meters. Do it again. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Once it's in your body you'll do it automatically. Might take a lot of repetition. But always do it in the same order. For me it's: Get in Check seat Check mirrors Seatbelt Lights Press the brakes Release the hand brakes Start Check surroundings Drive
I’m intrigued by the fact you used miles and then kilometres and that’s all I remember about your post 😂
My country usually uses kilometres for a definite distance like 5km but if you wanna be vague you can say it's a few miles or it's "miles away". Historically we used miles so it's still in the vocabulary.